[warm-up, creative parenting]

Did you play this game as a child? It bears repeating and is a great thing to do with your own kids. It’s non-competitive, free, interactive and instructive, for adults as well as children. Plus, if you bring a creative slant to it, it can be an experience that teaches about the close relationship between smell, memory and creativity.

THE GAME:

Place a series of smells under the noses of blindfolded people and ask them to name them.

Best played in the kitchen.

That’s it.

However, it’s not as easy as it would seem to be. Sometimes the smell is as familiar as your own name but the word for it will not come. This is probably because in order to do this we have to utilize two separate parts of the brain. The part that identifies smells as familiar and known—and the part that puts a word to that familiar and known smell, ordinarily with the assistance of sight.

It would be a great game to play at a Halloween party since this holiday is already so much about masks and the senses. Make it part of your “Haunted House” and have the kids identify a few ‘bad’ smells along with the good or neutral.

If you’re just playing this at home, talk to your kids about the brain and memory. Sit down with them and do a quick free-writing exercise just to see what the non-verbal sense of smell has aroused in your c-minds. If your children are too young to write, let them dictate their stories.

You can also use some of your game smells as the basis for art work. After you’ve played the Smell Game, tell your kids they can make art with the ingredients. Explain that this art work may not be as lasting as if you were using paint. It might be a good time to teach them words like “transient,” “ephemeral,” and “fleeting” and to talk about art and artists who make art that is intentionally so.

Smell Art Ideas:

Sprinkle jello on a paper and let them use their fingers to make art (this is a great sensory-rich way to help them learn to write their letters and numbers, but save that for another more structured time ) Enhance the smell factor by letting them dip their fingers in lemon juice first!

Dip paper in strong tea, coffee, fruit juice.

Use berries to make dyes, paint with them!

Finger paint with (a little) peanut butter. (Maybe even jelly, too?)

Put glue on the paper and use aromatic spices as you would glitter.

Take one item—how about a lemon?—and do a whole picture out using all parts of the lemon.

And, this is a whole other article, but don’t forget: edible art! Pancakes with food colouring, popcorn ball people, rice cake worlds.

LINKS

Here’s a lovely website
http://library.thinkquest.org/C0110299/html/index.php made by three young people about the brain and the mind, including pages on creativity (take the How Creative are you? quiz), the senses and memory.

The Ephemeral Arts - check this one out. it’s all about ephemeral arts on the Indian sub-continent; here’s another link to the same site, one that gives examples of these kinds of art. Use them with your kids!

Stayed tuned for my own Ephemeral Arts article. Coming soon!

Have fun and never forget that anything you can do with kids and creativity, you should be doing for yourself anyway. Tapping into our childhood well, keeps creativity flowing strong!

[-quick tip, practice-]

A Quick Creative Practice
~simple habits can have profound impacts~

“The smell and taste of things remain poised a long time, like souls, ready to remind us…..” Marcel Proust, French writer.

Whether you’re on a high energy creative roll or in a loggy slump, paying attention to your senses always makes good sense.

The kind of creativity you’re engaged in will tend to dictate the sense organ that you primarily use—though sight wins hands down. Music - hearing, Photography - sight, Cooking - taste, Pottery/Sculpting - touch and what about that OTHER one? Ah, yes, smell!

Since that’s the sense that tends to be used least, try going on a smell adventure for a way to inspire, to perk up your creative juices. As I have detailed recently, cooking that is done with intention, can be a great creative catalyst for this very reason.

Cook something that has smells you really love—or hate! Even if you don’t, cook you can make lemonade, cocoa, peppermint tea. Or just bite into and eat one perfect peach, making sure that you are aware of the smell as you do it. There are smells all around us all the time, right? Paying attention to them is the key.

Smells can be a switch, a direct neurological link to a memory, a feeling, a moment in time. It’s simple and effective. Researchers believe that this feeling of directness to a smell or taste induced memory has to do with the fact that these senses are our only chemical ones.

Sense memories are most often associated with the art of acting, but they are also intimately tied with writing, music and art as well. We create out of who we are, so what could be better than to use this primitive, chemical-sense to heighten our abilities in order to create our own truth?

After exposing yourself to the smells of your choice, try doing a ten-minute writing exercise or quick sketches. Use the mental stimulation to create something just from the sense of smell. Have fun!

Here’s an excellent article on the science behind the sense of smell and memory.

[-journaling, nature, process-]

by Nancy S.M. Waldman

3/1 The crocuses are coming up. Is it early? Is the natural world around you different from the way it was when you were a child? Perhaps it has even changed since you were a young adult. It has for me and I know it is so for many people. Climate change is happening and now, with greater awareness of it, perhaps it is time for those of us who like to record our lives in our journals, to consider chronicling climate change. I have always noticed (and have sometimes written down) those normal firsts during the course of a year. April 29 - Peepers! NS 2006 The first time I see a robin, the first crocus or forsythia or lilac. When I first run into June bugs on the front door screen or hear the cicadas in the summer or the peepers in the spring. That these sightings may be occurring earlier or differently than they used to was not the reason I noted them. I think I was more moved by the solid evidence that these things were happening on the exact same date from year to year. April 17th, 1996 CT 1st forsythia sighting by 18th it is difficult to look without seeing one Tyler tells me many people believe them to be: “for Cynthias” If I did it for any other reason, it had to do with creative writing. When writing, it’s often useful to have at your fingertips real notations of when the Indian Hawthorne blooms in Texas or if it’s believable that the first snowfall of the year might be as late as January in Connecticut or if a character could be hearing the frogs at dusk in Nova Scotia in mid-April. May May 6th - first lilac blooming - CT 1998, CT VERY WET SPRING - Rain everyday for 14 or so also cool May 11 — NS 2006 Forsythias in bloom However, looking back at my nature journal now, I realize that there is benefit in the simple act of jotting down what is happening in the natural world. I only wish I had written more and started earlier in my life. If you plant a vegetable garden or have perennial beds, why not consider keeping a journal dedicated just to what happens there each year? August The Cicadas have come! CT, 1995 Wow… once again, 1996 Not only will you be more likely to improve your gardens by remembering through your journal what works and what doesn’t, you may also notice more readily the changes that are occurring in the weather. The first and last frost dates, the fact that certain crops used to die on the vine but now have time to ripen, the withering of other crops due to higher heat. July 11th 1998 My Birthday Took myself to Sherwood Is. St. Park Beach After sitting on the beach for an hour or so, I walked down one of the nature trails. Was followed—hovered over—by a red-winged blackbird. It flew back to its nest and another came up, chattering at me. Felt as if I had an escort. Then, on the way back, I saw 7 or 8 goldfinches! Only me on this trail despite hundreds of people only yards away. While it may be human nature to avoid awareness of unpleasant things—especially when we feel helpless to do anything about it—it is a natural reaction that, in this case, needs to be resisted. If we notice in our personal lives that things have changed, we may be more likely to change ourselves in the process. Decide—at the very least—to be aware of what is happening to our world and in order to facilitate your awareness and your memory: record it in your journal. CB 2003 ~The summer of baby owls~ Juveniles by the time we spotted them. For days and days there were hanging around the edges of the yard everywhere we looked. Saw the parents less often, but frequently. Screeching “hunger” calls sounded like a bobcat

The images you see here are simple notes from my nature journal. The notes I make are ordered only by month. Because I have moved around and travel frequently, I am always careful to note where I am and the year but otherwise, the placement is random. This provides a quixotic juxtaposition of the years of my life that I find pleasing. ***That sentence provided a place to use two fun *x* words that I also found pleasing. May 17 NS 2006 Earliest spring since I’ve lived here. We’ve had warm to hottish temperatures since last Friday (12th) - a little rain one night but other than that: SUN. All the trees have their leaves though. Unlike most years on June 1st when they POP out all at once, they are opening gradually. This is almost 2 weeks early. Cherry trees beginning to bloom. The journal was a gift from my mother and the pages of it are graced—that is the only fitting word for them—with illustrations by Marjorie Bastin. As you can see they are gentle, accessible and charming images of birds, eggs, nests, dandelions with Marjorie’s own nature notations. Simply beautiful. If you have the time and interest, consider illustrating your own nature journal. One of the most beautiful books that I’ve seen on the nature journal is A Trail Through Leaves - The Journal as a Path to Place, by Hannah Hinchman. June 2005 -9th- in Maine for Cadi’s birth the lilacs are in full bloom Happy Journaling!

[-metAphorism, r-mindfulness-]

metAphorism is a word I coined to mean a simple, everyday thing, concept or event that points us in the direction of a deeper lesson. metaphor - figure of speech giving an implicit comparison: this is that. aphorism - concise statement of a truth or opinion.

by Nancy Waldman

The metAphorism
Desktop Short-cuts

The lesson
Knowing short-cuts to access the most creative part of our minds will heighten creativity

Easily accessing your creative mind is like clicking a shortcut icon on your computer desktop. It not only saves time, but also limits frustrations while maximizing successes.

Did you know that part of your mind is good at and enjoys the creative flow while part of your mind resists it? Take a look at the classic art book, Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain, by Betty Edwards for an in-depth explanation. Ms. Edwards’ work originally referred to the right hemisphere of the brain as being the more creative side with the left side carrying out the everyday linear functions. This is a convenient label for what are highly complex and individual processes. We know that the brain hemispheres work together but the “r-mode” is an expression coined by Betty Edwards to represent a very real state of consciousness wherein creativity is more likely to happen.

If you have trouble getting started in your creative pursuits or are overly critical of your creative output when you begin, it may be that you’re trying to use your “everyday” mind instead of your creative mind.

If you are constantly bothered by distracting thoughts like, “I need to do the laundry.” “This is no good.” “What makes me think I can write?” “My stomach hurts.” “What time is it?” it’s because you haven’t clicked on your r-mode shortcuts. Finding the right frame of mind is like clicking the proper icon on your desktop: it takes you there as fast as possible.

Movement such as walking, dancing and traveling in vehicles seems to be conducive to r-mode thinking. So does water. That’s why we often get our most inspired ideas while driving or showering. Unfortunately we can’t do our work while soaking wet or stuck in traffic! We need to become adept at short-cutting. Our linear minds must recede like a Window’s file behind our r-mode minds when we are at our desks or our easels so that we can get the work done with fewer distractions.

Remember the “Desktop Shortcut” when you want a short-cut to your creative energy.

Originally published in the April 2005 issue of The Practically Creative Quarterly, theme: Inspiration
© 05-07 Nancy S.M. Waldman